The invention relates to eye goggles, in particular to swim goggles that can be manufactured for a relatively low cost and can provide a comfortable and watertight seal and accommodate a wide variety of faces.
Swimming goggles have been known for many years and one common type comprises two eyepieces which are adjustably interconnected by a relatively thin and flexible plastic strap, serving as a nosebridge, and a headband to pass around the head to hold the goggles on the face. The nosebridge has opposite outer ends which are received within complementary openings provided in peripheral rims surrounding lenses of the eyepieces. The outer ends are provided with "barb-like" steps which engage complementary projections or edges of the openings in the eyepiece rims to locate the nosepiece with respect to the eyepieces. To accommodate persons having eyes of different spacings, at least one end of the strap is moved into or out of the respective eyepiece opening to permit a different barb-like step to engage the edge of the opening so as to permit incremental adjustment of the spacing between the eyepieces. To permit easy adjustment of the strap within the opening, there is adequate clearance between the strap and edge to facilitate engagement and disengagement of the barb-like steps. However, even when the edge or projection is engaged by the strap, there can be excessive movement between the strap and the opening which can cause excessive instability of the eyepieces engaging the wearer's face. While the instability can be reduced by increasing the tension of the headband, an excessive increase in tension forces the eyepieces into the wearer's eye sockets, increasing discomfort for the wearer.
Most eyepieces have face engaging rims provided with soft gaskets to improve comfort by cushioning the eyepieces against the face and sealing thereagainst. The gasket is commonly an expanded or "foamed" plastic material, or a relatively thin soft rubber-like material which has a feather edge which engages the face to provide a seal therewith. Both types of gasket material can deform excessively when subjected to excessively high headband tension in an attempt to improve stability of the eyepieces engaging the face, and this deformation decreases the cushioning of the gasket, causing discomfort to the wearer.
The looseness between the nose strap and the opening in the eyepieces can also be a problem when the goggles are removed from the wearer's head, and thus are no longer subjected to headband tension. In this instance, random movements of the goggles can cause inadvertent movement between the nosebridge strap and the opening which can disengage the barb or step from the edge of the opening, thus disturbing the original eyepiece spacing. One example of swimming goggles having a flexible nosebridge having a series of barb-like steps at outer ends thereof is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,459,882 (Yamamoto).
To avoid use of the above "barbed" flexible nosebridge, other structures have been devised to locate eyepieces securely against the face, while permitting adjustment of spacing therebetween. In this regard, U.S. Pat. No. 5,502,844 (Alvarado) discloses swimming goggles with eyepieces connected together by two lengths of string passing through openings adjacent inner portions of the eyepieces. U.S. Pat. No. 5,603,125 (Chou) discloses a pair of goggles in which eyepieces thereof are interconnected by a simple knotted loop of string passing through eyelets adjacent inner portions of the eyepieces. In both these references, untying and retying the knot presumably adjusts the length of the string and thus spacing between the eyepieces. In Applicant's opinion, these two types of goggles can be uncomfortable to wear as tension in the portions of string interconnecting the eyepieces causes the string to extend in a series of straight lines between the eyepieces. Taut lengths of string would tend to interfere with the wearer's nose, particularly if the nose is relatively large and projects beyond a plane containing openings receiving the string. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 3,791,721 (Helfrich) discloses a pair of compact eye goggles for protection against high intensity light radiation in which eyepieces are drawn together by lengths of soft elastic cord or band which are loosely threaded through a series of eyelets extending peripherally around the eyepieces. These goggles are not for swimming as they would not be watertight, and thus would not be appropriate for the present use.